1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates generally to a replacement device for a knee joint, and more particularly, to a device for resurfacing the trochlear groove of a femur that is customized to an individual and to methods for installing and making the same
2. Description of the Related Art
The human knee joint primarily includes three parts, anatomically referred to as the femur (thighbone), the tibia (shinbone) and the patella (kneecap). The knee joint is then further subdivided into two joints: the patella-femoral joint (space between the kneecap and distal anterior surface of the thighbone) and the tibia-femoral (space between the thighbone and shinbone).
During normal bending and straightening of the leg, the patella (kneecap) slides over the femur (thighbone) within a groove that is located on the front distal surface of the femur. This groove is referred to as the trochlear groove. Several types of abnormalities can occur with the movement of the patella over the femur. For example, the patella may dislocate or slip out of place, it may fracture, or develop a tracking problem. Normally, the patella tracks, or glides within the central region of the trochlear groove. A tracking problem occurs when the patella no longer remains centered within the groove as it glides over the femur. The resulting abnormal biomechanics can cause chronic pain in the joint and if left untreated, it can lead to degenerative arthritis.
The distal end of the femur (within which resides the trochlear groove) is covered with articular cartilage. This cartilage functions as a cushion between the femur and the tibia. In arthritis of the knee joint, the articular cartilage breaks down, either from abnormal wear as mentioned above, or from injury, age, congenital predisposition, inflammatory arthritis, or obesity, etc. When this cartilage breaks down, the cushion is lost, resulting in pain, swelling, bone spur formation and/or decreased range of motion of the knee joint.
Due to the inability of damaged cartilage to repair itself after injury, the range of treatment for patients with unicompartmental disease involving the patella is limited. The most commonly prescribed treatments included soft tissue releases and/or realignment of the patellar tendon, patellectomy, where the patella is completely removed, or a total knee replacement with a standardized patello-femoral-tibial prosthesis. In certain instances none of these procedures may be desirable or effective. For example, the soft tissue procedures may not work. A patient having undergone a patellectomy is left partially crippled due to the loss of the kneecap, which served to hold the joint together. Additionally, these patients often still suffer from pain due to contact of the remaining tendon moving directly over the groove. A total knee replacement with a standardized prosthesis is also far from ideal because much of the femur bone must be carved away in order to “fit” the distal surface of the femur to the standardized prosthesis. Additionally, the patients are often young and are likely to require replacement of the prosthesis. Each revision operation is more difficult. Therefore, there still is a need for a better treatment of patient's with degenerative arthritis of their patella-femoral joint.
The present invention provides a replacement device that is customized to each individual knee joint. Due to the “fitting” of the replacement device to the patient's femur, instead of the reverse as is the case with standard prosthetic devices, the patient's original range and force of motion (kinematics) through the knee joint is preserved and the patient does not suffer from device-related pain. Also included is a method for making a customized replacement device and a marking template for such a device. Bone stock removal is limited and functionally is maximized.